The West gaslights the world on Gaza and rejects ceasefire

Editor's note: Fiona Sim, a special commentator on current affairs for CGTN, is a London-based freelance political commentator and public sector worker. The article reflects the author's opinions and not necessarily the views of CGTN.

At the time of this writing, the horrors faced by Palestinians in Gaza cannot be overstated. In Gaza, the skies are lit up with the explosions caused by continuous airstrikes by Israeli forces. Gazans spend the night not knowing if it will be their last.

The Gazan Ministry of Health reported on November 6 that 252 people were killed in the past 24 hours after the Israeli forces' 18 attacks, with hospitals and schools not spared from the shelling. This comes at a time where 95 percent of Gaza lacks clean drinking water and the average resident is living on two pieces of bread a day – a luxury for some as flour gets harder to come by. Israeli forces have been targeting bakeries too, leaving locals destitute.

With one child being killed every 10 minutes in Gaza, the only humane path forward is an immediate ceasefire. Israel and its allies must implement the UN General Assembly's resolution. Anything else seems tantamount to allowing genocide of one of the world's most vulnerable populations.

Humanitarian pause is not enough

Given the scale of the devastation inflicted on Gaza, experts from the UN as well as international charities and human rights organizations have lambasted calls for a humanitarian pause over a ceasefire. No pause would be enough to repair or rebuild the infrastructure that has been destroyed in the shelling of Gaza.

According to the Palestinian authorities, more than 16 hospitals have ceased operations due to lack of fuel or airstrikes – including the Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Hospital – Gaza's only cancer treatment center. Water pipes, solar panels, and telecommunication networks have been destroyed. To call only for a pause is to put two million Gazans at the mercy of relentless bombing with no recourse for survival.

The U.S. President Joe Biden's administration has been under fire for advocating a humanitarian pause as opposed to a ceasefire by its own citizens. Hundreds of thousands took to the streets of Washington D.C. on November 4 in the biggest march for Palestine in U.S. history. Elsewhere, Jewish organizations have staged sit-ins calling for a ceasefire while activists have been preventing ships said to be transporting arms to Israel from leaving ports.

It is significant to note that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ruled out a humanitarian pause – except for "tactical little pauses" – from consideration until all Israeli hostages have been released. However, friends and families of hostages have been protesting outside his residence demanding "everyone for everyone." The exchange of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel was initially prepositioned by Hamas but was dismissed as a "psychological game" by Israeli politicians. 

U.S. faces scrutiny

The United States is under scrutiny from not just its own citizens but from world leaders. In his highly anticipated speech on November 3, Lebanon's Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah was clear: "The United States is totally responsible for the war raging in Gaza, against unarmed defenseless people." The DPRK has also come out with a statement condemning the U.S.'s involvement, alleging "its real intention is to zealously patronize and back Israel's reckless military attack on the Gaza Strip."

These criticisms of the U.S. are not without due cause. Congress has officially approved $14.5 billion dollars in military aid for Israel and notably nothing in humanitarian assistance for Gaza. Given the fact that the United States has pledged Israel around $38 billion inmilitary aid – under the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed in 2016 – and has given Israel more aid than any other nation in the world since World War II, it is not an exaggeration to say that the United States is funding Israel's war on Gaza.

Funding genocide?

As mounting allegations of "war crimes" committed by Israeli forces come to light, it is clear that Israel's actions have gone far beyond self-defense in any legal or moral sense of the term. From the UK to the U.S., the West's continuing affirmation of Israel's "right to defend itself" has an alarming amount of self-awareness. It is nonsensical to talk about Israel's right to defend itself without acknowledging Palestinians' rights under international law, whether it's their right to resist, right to return, or right not to be forcibly transferred and collectively punished.  

The United Nations and human rights organizations around the world have indicated that Israel's strikes and full siege on Gaza amount to collective punishment which is illegal under international humanitarian law. Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan of the International Criminal Court (ICC) suggested that the ICC has jurisdiction to investigate over occupied Palestinian territories and Israel. Experts in the United Nations have subsequently warned of a "grave risk of genocide" for Palestinians in Gaza.

If the United States wishes to appear ignorant of Israeli government sentiment, it seems the rest of the world will not tolerate injustice. Ultimately, one must realize that the Palestine question is not just about the sovereignty and self-determination of Palestinians but the survival of human justice and morality in the 21st century.

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